1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method, apparatus, and computer usable code for graphical user interface (GUI). In particular, the present invention is directed to a method, apparatus, and computer usable code for sequencing collaborative portlets to form a workflow.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portlet is a reusable component of a portal page capable of displaying information and generating dynamic content to portal users. In web portals, portlets are used to accomplish a particular task or provide visualization of content. An individual portlet also may be implemented to present content in a particular workflow within that portlet. A workflow is a sequence of tasks in which each task involves the execution of one or more portlets. In other words, the workflow for a set of portlets involves the execution of the portlets in a particular order.
In order to accomplish an activity or a workflow utilizing the contents of multiple existing portlets in a portal page, portlets need to be executed and visualized in a particular sequence within the portal page. However, current web portals do not provide a mechanism to sequence a set of existing portlets in a workflow.
Existing portlet contents are typically linked to form a workflow by re-implementing the existing portlets to form a single new portlet within the portal page. This new portlet may be capable of permitting a user to navigate through portlet contents of the newly re-implemented portlet in order to execute and visualize portlet contents in a particular sequence. Because existing portlets must be re-implemented into a single portlet, the flexibility, reusability, and customization capabilities of each separate portlet are lost.